City cost of living 2026

Cost of living in Cape Coral, FL

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL metro area (860,959 people) ranks #41 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.

New York, NY: price level 112.6Los Angeles, CA: price level 113.6Chicago, IL: price level 103.6Dallas, TX: price level 103.1Houston, TX: price level 98.6Miami, FL: price level 114.2Washington, D.C.: price level 108.9Atlanta, GA: price level 100.1Philadelphia, PA: price level 102.6Phoenix, AZ: price level 103.3Boston, MA: price level 108.3Riverside, CA: price level 106.4San Francisco, CA: price level 115.6Detroit, MI: price level 100.3Seattle, WA: price level 111.1Minneapolis, MN: price level 104.8Tampa, FL: price level 100.9San Diego, CA: price level 111.9Denver, CO: price level 105.8Orlando, FL: price level 101.4Charlotte, NC: price level 97.3Baltimore, MD: price level 104.5St. Louis, MO: price level 95.1San Antonio, TX: price level 94.7Austin, TX: price level 98.1Portland, OR: price level 105.4Sacramento, CA: price level 106.7Pittsburgh, PA: price level 94.7Las Vegas, NV: price level 100.2Cincinnati, OH: price level 95.4Kansas City, MO: price level 92.5Columbus, OH: price level 95.5Indianapolis, IN: price level 95.7Cleveland, OH: price level 93.9Nashville, TN: price level 96.3San Jose, CA: price level 110.4Virginia Beach, VA: price level 97.9Jacksonville, FL: price level 99.5Providence, RI: price level 101.8Milwaukee, WI: price level 96.9Raleigh, NC: price level 98.2Oklahoma City, OK: price level 90.4Louisville, KY: price level 93.1Richmond, VA: price level 97.9Memphis, TN: price level 92.2Salt Lake City, UT: price level 100.9Birmingham, AL: price level 91.6Fresno, CA: price level 102.2Grand Rapids, MI: price level 95.5Hartford, CT: price level 102.7Buffalo, NY: price level 95.8Tucson, AZ: price level 96.9Tulsa, OK: price level 89.2Rochester, NY: price level 97.0Omaha, NE: price level 91.9Honolulu, HI: price level 111.0Greenville, SC: price level 93.3Bridgeport, CT: price level 106.9New Orleans, LA: price level 92.6Knoxville, TN: price level 92.6Sarasota, FL: price level 102.4Albuquerque, NM: price level 95.5Bakersfield, CA: price level 100.9McAllen, TX: price level 85.9Albany, NY: price level 99.6Allentown, PA: price level 100.0Baton Rouge, LA: price level 90.8Worcester, MA: price level 102.5El Paso, TX: price level 89.9Columbia, SC: price level 93.7Charleston, SC: price level 101.0Cape Coral, FL: price level 102.3Lakeland, FL: price level 97.1Boise, ID: price level 98.4Oxnard, CA: price level 110.5Dayton, OH: price level 92.7Stockton, CA: price level 105.1Greensboro, NC: price level 92.9Colorado Springs, CO: price level 100.7Little Rock, AR: price level 89.4Provo, UT: price level 98.2Des Moines, IA: price level 91.7Daytona Beach, FL: price level 99.4Poughkeepsie, NY: price level 109.4Madison, WI: price level 97.3Winston-Salem, NC: price level 92.0Akron, OH: price level 93.4Ogden, UT: price level 100.3Wichita, KS: price level 88.9Palm Bay, FL: price level 100.0Syracuse, NY: price level 95.7Augusta, GA: price level 91.9Durham, NC: price level 97.6Harrisburg, PA: price level 98.7Jackson, MS: price level 89.0Fayetteville, AR: price level 91.4Spokane, WA: price level 100.3Toledo, OH: price level 91.5Chattanooga, TN: price level 91.5New Haven, CT: price level 104.6Reno, NV: price level 101.0Portland, ME: price level 101.9Port St. Lucie, FL: price level 100.2Huntsville, AL: price level 93.1Pensacola, FL: price level 97.7Lexington, KY: price level 92.9Killeen, TX: price level 91.1Springfield, MO: price level 88.6Santa Rosa, CA: price level 107.8Wilmington, NC: price level 96.4Fort Wayne, IN: price level 92.6Vallejo, CA: price level 108.5Santa Barbara, CA: price level 108.8Salinas, CA: price level 109.0Savannah, GA: price level 95.2Manchester, NH: price level 105.7Ocala, FL: price level 95.2Asheville, NC: price level 96.5Naples, FL: price level 103.2Myrtle Beach, SC: price level 93.6Anchorage, AK: price level 105.4Spartanburg, SC: price level 91.1Fayetteville, NC: price level 92.0Trenton, NJ: price level 103.2Eugene, OR: price level 101.6Fort Collins, CO: price level 101.1Ann Arbor, MI: price level 100.9Greeley, CO: price level 100.2Gainesville, FL: price level 96.7Clarksville, TN: price level 90.9Boulder, CO: price level 105.2Columbus, GA: price level 89.3Crestview, FL: price level 97.0Sioux Falls, SD: price level 90.6Olympia, WA: price level 103.7Norwich, CT: price level 100.4Bremerton, WA: price level 105.6Fargo, ND: price level 90.9Bend, OR: price level 103.6Daphne, AL: price level 94.7Prescott, AZ: price level 98.3Hilton Head Island, SC: price level 98.0Burlington, VT: price level 100.9Panama City, FL: price level 97.3Jacksonville, NC: price level 92.1Punta Gorda, FL: price level 100.5Billings, MT: price level 93.5The Villages, FL: price level 85.4Cheyenne, WY: price level 96.5

Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.

Price level of the 149 metros we cover
See all 149 cities

Price level, from cheaper to pricier.

Salary to match $75k
$77,000
vs. an average-priced, no-income-tax area
Median rent
$1,871
per month · need $74,840 income
Median home
$396,500
need about $109,912 to buy

Compare Cape Coral with your city

See what you'd need to earn in Cape Coral to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Miami, FL, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), at about its median household income. Pick your own city and salary.

Equal salary in Cape Coral: $70,400

Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities

To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $70,400 in Cape Coral, FL to match $80,000 in Miami, FL ($9,600 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.

Single filer, W-2 salary. Both are in Florida, which has no state income tax on wages; neither city levies a resident income tax.

Take-home in Miami
$65,110
18.6% total tax
Take-home in Cape Coral
$65,110
18.6% total tax
Prices in Cape Coral
-10.4%
vs Miami (BEA 2024)
Renting: change after selected costs
+$2,544
per year, after taxes, rent and power; excludes food, transport, healthcare, child care and moving costs

See the full Miami to Cape Coral report

What things cost in Cape Coral

Price level by category (U.S. = 100)
Below the U.S. average Above the U.S. average
Overall102.3
Housing125.1
Goods96.2
Utilities86.9
Other services98.9

The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.

Taxes in Cape Coral

On an $85,000 salary (about the area's median household income), a single filer keeps $68,628 after 2026 federal tax ($9,870), Social Security and Medicare ($6,503). Florida has no state income tax on wages.

Housing

MeasureCape Coral area
Median rent$1,871/mo
Median home value$396,500
Median property tax$3,087/yr
Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down)$2,565
Median household income$83,602

Climate and jobs in Cape Coral

In the Cape Coral area the average January low is 54°F and the average July high 92°F, and the area has about 120 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 4.3% in 2025, the same as the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $46,780 a year, 8% below the U.S. median.

Climate in the Cape Coral area: NOAA 1991–2020 normals
Climate1991–2020 average
January low54°F
July high92°F
Days 90°F or hotter120 a year
Precipitation57 in a year
SnowfallNot measured
Jobs and pay in the Cape Coral area compared with the U.S. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Jobs and payMetro areaU.S.
Unemployment rate, 2025 average4.3%4.3%
Median wage, all jobs (May 2025)$46,780$50,980
Wage and salary jobs (May 2025)304,790155.5 million

Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Fort Myers Page Field Airport station (USW00012835); no nearby station has a snowfall normal. Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.

Retiring in Cape Coral

A single retiree spends about $3,199 a month here if they own their home outright, or $4,518 renting, based on typical spending for households 65 and older (BLS 2024) adjusted for local prices. See where your budget goes furthest.

Where people move to and from Cape Coral

Leaving Cape Coral for… (households)
Naples1,925
Miami1,567
Tampa1,456
Punta Gorda1,017
Orlando807
Sarasota786
New York620
Chicago501
Moving to Cape Coral from… (households)
Miami3,651
Naples2,781
New York1,702
Chicago1,040
Tampa889
Punta Gorda539
Orlando522
Minneapolis500

IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.

Natural hazard risk

FEMA rates the Cape Coral area among the highest for natural hazard risk (score 99 of 100), with expected losses of about $570 per resident per year. Disaster risk by county in Florida.

Highest relative risks (national percentile)
Higher risk than most U.S. counties
Hurricane100
Lightning100
Coastal flooding97
Riverine flooding97
Wildfire97

The vertical line marks the middle of U.S. counties (50).

Frequently asked questions

What salary do you need to live in Cape Coral?

To match the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax, you need about $77,000 in Cape Coral. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $74,840, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $109,912.

Is Cape Coral expensive?

The Cape Coral metro area's price level is 102.3 (U.S. = 100), #41 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing price index is 125.1, 25% above the U.S. average.

Are people moving to Cape Coral?

Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Cape Coral had a net gain of about 2,944 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).

What is the weather like in Cape Coral?

In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Cape Coral area (Fort Myers Page Field Airport weather station), the average January low is 54°F and the average July high 92°F. The area has about 120 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 57 inches of precipitation a year.

What are jobs and pay like in Cape Coral?

The Cape Coral metro area's unemployment rate averaged 4.3% in 2025, the same as the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $46,780 a year in May 2025, 8% below the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What natural disasters affect Cape Coral?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the area among the highest overall (score 99). The highest relative risks are hurricane, lightning, coastal flooding.

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